Lizzie Borden Society Forum

What a cool city hall for Swansea.....does anyone know if this structure still stands? Googled Swansea....and yes, it still is there! color pic below.

WOW yes cool, thanks! I wonder what style of architecture that is?
Gothic?

I was hoping MB would tell us more. Plus he has hundreds of postcards and may have this building?

So unusual, Camgarsky; thanks.

Yes, the old Swansea Town Hall is still standing and operating as a town hall.

There has been much talk about replacing. it. And yes, it is very inadequate, but to that I say. Make-due

They recently had a vote in town to build a new structure and as is common, raise your taxes. They needed a 2 thirds yes vote and it was voted down.

Harrah

The building they wanted to build would have been up the road about a mile in a half, on the corner of Bark Street where the town has another building and some land. The proposal would combine the Town Public Works and New Town Hall and cost was 53 thousand dollars. OH NO. Sorry! I meant 53 Million. And that for a town of approx. 17,000 people.

It was reported that if passed it would raise the average taxes on a house by 500 dollars a year. (to be paid off in 25 years and which time your taxes would remain at 400 dollars up and above. You don't think once it's paid for that your taxes will go down by 400 dollars, do you?) Crazy politicians. That 500 dollar tax rate would be on a house worth 400,000 dollars. The average house in Swansea today is worth about 457,000. Home prices The market is overdue for a crash.

So the old Gothic town hall still stands as you see in the photo in the post above and business goes on as it did since it was dedicated a year before the Borden Murders. (At which time Swansea had a population of about 1500 or about 10 times smaller than it is today. To the people at town hall I say: Go purchase a bigger filing cabinet.

(I did have an extensive post card collection of Fall River and wrote an article on collecting post cards in the now defunct Hatchet magazine, but Stefani inherited them. And I'm not even dead yet... or am I

Below is a proposed photo of what the new town hall would look like.

Potential new building is boring! I agree keep the original town hall....figure it out!

Yes, and they are going to propose the new town hall once again in Swansea. They sure saw a sucker coming. Now they are saying between 48 and 53 million. What a rip off. I say no, no, no!

The town of Newbury, here in Massachusetts is also proposing a new town hall. Their proposal is for a 10 million dollar building for a town of 7 thousand souls. Swansea has 17 thousand. A little over twice as much but the new town hall cost, 5 times as much.

Also proposing a new town hall is the town of Sharon here in MA. The town of Sharon has the same population as Swansea and the proposal calls for a new town hall costing 10 million, also.

The city of WAUKESHA, Wisconsin which has a population of 70,000, nearly 5 times the size of Swansea, and a proper city, just built a new city hall in 2021 for less than 20 million.

I know it was 4 years ago but still, Huntsville, Alabama, a city of well over 200 thousand, was proposing a city hall, a huge building, which looks to be 3 times bigger than the Swansea proposal for 60 million.

What's the beef Swansea? Have cost really gone up that much?

On another plane is the new Durfee High School built just over a year ago.

This is a massive building which cost 260 million. It's an impressive building and they did a beautiful job.

Was it worth 260? Can't say. But it is on level with a new universe when compared to the old building on the same property. The new building is in the spirit of the original Durfee building on Rock Street.

Thank you for the information. Glad you found the topic!

And please folks, let us not consider our beloved Hatchet “defunct” which means “no longer existing or functioning”: it is still vivid and vital and interesting, enjoyable and relevant, as I am most sure MB will agree We are in archive status, but one can enjoy articles or authors separately or print on demand.
https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetOnline/

Yes Kat, right you are.

The Hatchet is still vital and usable and available. By defunct I meant that there is no new publications, articles, or content being generated, a new. Everyone has gone home. But the door is still unlocked. Pour yourself a steaming cup of coffee and drop on by to research or browse. (Bring a coaster. Don't leave your dirty spoon on the table. And wash your cup once you are done )

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetOnline/

Talking about government scamming their citizens and profiting greedy interests, like the example listed above, and the suggested new Swansea town hall.

Here's how Swansea Fathers, who most are sons and daughters of Fall River, that is, fall river, treat history.

This past week the town of Swansea tore down a very archival and historical home, belonging to Preserved Gardner, a close relative of the founder of the town of Swansea, Samuel Gardner. A very historical property built in 1790s. The lack of respect for the past and history is unparsrallel when considering the historical value of such a building. Yes it needed lots of work. They claim it would cost 2 million dollars to bring it back. Yet, they are building new 3 bedroom homes down the road for 600 thousand. What a crock of crap. Just like the town hall that was suppose to cost 50 million, for a town with less than 20 thousand people.

The 2 million dollar price tag was just a scam, an excuse to demolish the building. That's the way I see it, and it's not without having some idea of what things cost.

Allow me to say this. I just built my own 2 bedroom, 2000 square foot home not long ago. I mean built over 80% of it with my own two hands. Nearly everything. (Certain things I could not, like electrical and plumbing because the town would not allow me to do it myself. And to plaster the inside walls was almost cheaper to have contracted than what it would cost me to purchase the materials. And half the roof was done by a contractor when I fell off and broke some body parts, at age 65.)

Just before that I had just renovated a 3 decker and completely renovated my mom's old home.

All the Gardner house needed to save it was a new roof, siding and windows. This would seal the building for the next 30 years. The interior could be taken care of much later when funds could be raised.

To seal up the Gardner house would cost less than 40 thousand in material, 60 tops for materials. Then triple that for labor. One hundred and fifty to 160 total. To enclose and seal the building, so if you drove by it would look new from the outside. Two million is a gun to your head estimate, an excuse to demolish, a justification to gain property.

(And even though the cost for your average "do-it-yourselfer roof shingles for the average house does not exceed 10 thousand, it is difficult to find anyone to do the job for less than 30 or 40 thousand. I'm just stating that concessions could have been discovered to save the Gardner house.)

The porch did not need to be saved. It was not historical correct for that age home. House was built in 1790-1800. The porch was Victorian, probably late 1800s or earl 1900s.

And they did not need to renovate the entire thing to save it. Just, siding, roof, and windows. You could make that house look new from the outside and let it sit there as a thing of historical significance for future generations to renovate. Save the town's history.

From what I gather it was sitting on town property. Would cost the town nothing to leave it in place. 2 million? Come now!

What a shame.

This makes me sick.....